3-alarm blaze kills 2

Photo: Contributed - Vancouver firefighters

UPDATE 5 p.m.

The bodies of two people have been discovered inside a burned-out building in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Fire crews arrived at about 2 a.m. Monday morning to find much of the building on fire.

Firefighters rescued two people found hanging from windows outside of the building and both were taken to hospital in an ambulance.

More than 50 firefighters were responding during the peak of the three-alarm blaze.

The building had been set to be demolished to make way for a new complex.

A Vancouver Fire Department official says the two people killed haven't been identified.

A three-alarm fire has torn through a building in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Alarms rang out early Monday morning as crews attempted to douse the massive blaze (on East Hastings Street and Campbell Avenue).

When crews arrived they found two people trying to get out of the building.

"We've rescued two (people) from the structure," Asst. Chief Ron Coulson told CTV Vancouver. "They were hanging off the window sills and they reported to us that there may be two more inside."

Pillows of thick white smoke are hanging over the area and East Hastings Street is closed for several blocks.

Traffic is being detoured as firefighters continue to spray the structure.

More than 50 firefighters battled the blaze for more than three hours. 

Officials say the cause of the fire is under investigation.